


My Soul Still Burns

by Zeethulhu



Series: Simple Geometry [3]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Attempted Murder, Body Horror, Body Modification, Confusion, Other, Rage, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2020-11-23 05:52:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zeethulhu/pseuds/Zeethulhu
Summary: After waking with his body more omnic than human all Genji wants is revenge. But in that quest for it he discovers he not the monster he thinks he is. Neither...is his brother.Or: An interlude to Simple Geometry where Genji glimpses bits of Hanzo's life. And slowly begins to heal himself along the way.





	1. Waga Tamashī Wa Fukushu O Motomeru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My soul seeks vengeance"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to thank everyone who has read this indulgent piece of my thoughts during overwatch matches.
> 
> I generally play flex, and my group switches roles a lot. I'm a killer sigma and soldier 76. But my heart is in playing Hanzo. I don't get to often, and this is my way of getting in his head.
> 
> So thank you readers for giving this fic a chance. This little interlude has popped up as I've been running through "With Honor Comes Redemption" editing to the best of my ability.
> 
> :3

In Genji's dreams he saw only that fight. The way Hanzo had looked as he brandished his blade. The raw anger in his voice, the murderous energy that surrounded him. The terrifying knowledge that he was going to die. And all he remembered in that moment was how cold he'd been, how hurt he was that he'd brushed his brother off. Then his arm was sliced off, followed by his legs in a wicked slash that guided Udon and Ramen around his body. Soba torn asunder as she battled to defend them. She'd cut into Storm Blade, but their force was greater than she was. The force blew him out of the castle the dragons dissipating and he fell behind the wall. The dream airways ended there. He still never knew if it was fate that they blew him out over the city or not. 

So much of his body had been damaged from the fight, the subsequent fall. With how much of him was now cybernetic it should be impossible to dream. But when he rested to re-charge, dreaming was damn near inevitable. Either he relived his death, or he dreamed of waking up on that stretcher, racing towards one of the Blackwatch airships.

"We got you kid, we'll help you. But you gotta help us too! It's not over!" Gabriel Reyes had shouted at him through the agony. Begging with dark eyes for Genji to agree, to not die before their work was done. Genji had not originally set or to dismantle his clan, but the more he saw, the more he uncovered, the more he knew would stain Hanzo... He'd planned to tear it all down, restore their clan without the criminal elements. Hanzo would have helped once he knew. Instead he had killed Genji, only lifesaving tech had revived him.

Genji had been so furious, poisoned with black rage and hate. He'd met his contacts gaze and told him to just do it. Two days of intensive surgery, of procedures that he'd faded in and out of despite medications, and he had his first body. It was then he knew he'd made a horrible mistake. 

75% of his body was now cybernetic. It had started at 60%, but after he'd had two legs and an arm affixed, his body began to get overtaxed, the nerve wiring paired with the organ replacements sent his body into shock. All but his heart failed and had to be removed and replaced with an advanced biological life system. Genji subsisted almost entirely off of the same fuel that Omnics had powering their cores. Like an eternal battery nano bots and bio coolant flowed through his body like blood. The mixture looked like blood, and functioned like it enough to keep his heart beating and his brain functioning.

When he woke that first time after it was finished, he hadn't recognized himself. He'd lost his bottom jaw to the dragons, the aftermath of burns covered his neck under the cybernetic covering. They fashioned a tongue and bottom jaw to aid him in speech. His top lip barely brushed the fake bottom lip that covered it all. He couldn't be pressed to do more than grunt. He barely spoke at all anymore. He didn't like the robotic buzz his voice now carried from the voice modulator that had repaired his vocal cords. 

For as damaging as it was to look at himself, Genji couldn't deny that his new body was more efficient than his previous one had ever been. He was faster than even his top speed was before. He could dash in and vanish in the process to get behind his enemy. He could deflect bullets with his blade now. Faster, stronger, and better than he'd ever been even in his prime. And that terrified him.

He knew the full scope of what his body could do. He had full control of the nerve ports all connected to his brain. The ventilation that controlled the heat his cybernetics put out was the only system that could react on its own. They had tested him hard in the weeks filtering his procedures.

"Agent Shimada, your presence is requested in the briefing room." The base's AI addressed him.

He wasn't dreaming anymore, just taking stock of his systems. He lifted his flesh hand to his face. He rubbed his fingers over his eyes. The artificial lenses implanted in his corneas were sensitive, so he rubbed them first before he sat up from his medical chair. It was state of the art, reading his vitals and sending them straight to the medical team. It only took one visit from one of the nurses and finding themselves under his blade before they wisely got him the chair. He didn't want to hurt anyone because they snuck up on him. But they should also know better than to approach him when he was resting. When he was _weak_. Genji would never be weak again. Not if he had something to say about it. 

"Very well." Genji rasped out his reply and reached for the mask that covered his face from nose down. He sat forward and took a moment to cycle through his systems. He lifted his hand to his other arm. Cybernetic from bicep down. He reached out mentally to Soba, only her head remained of the tattoo. Ascending along his arm to coil on his chest. He was sure that was the only thing keeping her with him. As it stood she was covered by the chassis that held his torso together. 

Her regard was sluggish, tired, but it was there. He wanted to whisper to her, summon her forth to hold her. But the last time he'd tried, just after waking she'd fallen apart in his grasp like sand made of light. When she was more alert, and not drawing on him, she was angry. Her rage and hate burned under his skin and matched his own. When they fought, and he summoned her she would gather what was left of herself and line his blade and body. That was still the same. Though she no longer guided the blade herself. It was enough for now to know she was still with him. She had not left him despite it all.

Genji stood and turned to the weapons rack on the wall before the bathroom. He lifted the wakizashi to sling around his hips. The katana ended up over his shoulder and attached via magnets built into his body and the scabbard. He settled further knowing he was armed. He knew he was safe in this base, that the people here were in more danger of him than he was of them. 

Genji approached the door and pressed his flesh hand to the scanner. The door rushed open startling the woman outside. She jumped when he exited and Genji narrowed his gaze. Dr. Angela Zeigler, his main doctor. She had designed his internal systems, and was on duty nearly all the time. In a life before this, he might have flirted, might have tried to coax a blush from her. But now...now all he saw was the pity on her face. Not for the enhancements, but for what it all did to him.

Genji turned away from her concern and gritted his teeth over the artificial ones. In his life before men women and omnics only ever looked at him with desire or amusement. Now what was he? He was barely a man at all anymore. All he saw was apprehension and pity for the state he was in.

Agents avoided him in the halls of the Overwatch HQ. His temper was short, drastically so. He looked terrifying, and he felt terrifying. It was better than the pity he saw in Dr. Zeiglers eyes. She might have done this work to keep him alive, and he appreciated it. But he didn't think she approved of how much she had to remove and replace. It was a miracle he lived at all. It felt like a curse though.

He entered the briefing room and took stock of who was there. Gabriel Reyes, Strike Commander of Blackwatch. His right hand man Jesse McCree, and the other doctor who was authorized to work on his broken body, Moira Deorian. 

"Heyya Shimada-San!" McCree grinned around the cigar in his mouth. His wily eyes reminded Genji overmuch of how he used to be. When he was just a man.

"Let's get started then." Commander Reyes said and the eyes of his subordinates turned to him. "This is the deal we made. You got us Intel on the drug and weapons stash houses in Hanamura. We've pulled out mostly, but surveillance is still going on those locations."

"What're we talkin'?" McCree asked with serious eyes.

"There's been a disturbance. Something spooked the Shimada-Gumi." Reyes pulled up a satellite image of bodies littering the grounds of Genji's home. His gaze narrowed. "So far it's business as usual, but none of the elders have been spotted since the incident."

"Someone else turn?" McCree asked.

"Unlikely, Shimada-San was the only member we managed to bring over." Moira tapped a long manicured nail on the tablet before her. "This is the work of the same man who butchered our new recruit."

Genji frowned beneath his faceplate the expression tugged at the scar tissue. But the sentiment remained. Hanzo had not been unaffected by the duel. Genji didn't want to hunt for Hanzo. He wanted the bastard to be right where Genji looked for him the first time. Genji wanted to see his face when he realized he'd failed to kill him. That when he died it was in retribution.

"So the targets are these three warehouses." Reyes shifted focus to three points on the map. "We're going to hit each one and seize the drugs for the government to get rid of. Mostly because these guns that were bought for the Shimada-Gumi are now being sold on the black market to whoever bids the highest."

That wasn't right, Genji narrowed his gaze. His father had never allowed them to sell to just anyone. Buyers were brought in and carefully vetted. Hanzo would not have sold their wares to just anyone either. Something must have happened, this wasn't Hanzo's work at all. Had he given up control in belated grief? How pitiful that his murderer might be grieving for him. It would make killing him all the sweeter.

"There are reports that there's a meeting tomorrow night at this warehouse we'll be taking the guns from. That's our point of contact." Reyes explained as he pointed. "The other teams will hit the other two. Overwatch will not know that we're hitting a meeting. On paper this is an illicit goods seizure we're talking point in newscasts the the international ties. That's true, for half of the reason we're going."

Because at that meeting Genji would get his vengeance.

He stood and all eyes whipped to him. Genji met Reyes' eyes, then he bowed his head. He left the room knowing what he needed to know. The intricacies of this mission were unimportant to him. He needed only to be pointed in a direction. He would eliminate any who fell into that path.

* * *

"Where is Hanzo?!" Genji's voice buzzed with his modulator as he glared death and fury down at down at Shimada Kanata. The young elder cowered over his severed arm beneath Genji's brandished blade.

"What?!" The man looked at Genji in shock. Behind him Elders Yotsuba Ai and Tatsumaki Haru lay slain. His initial attack on the room had been swift. Both elders fell in an instant. They weren't his targets though, only one needed to be alive to tell him where his brother was.

"Shimada Hanzo, Oyabun of the Shimada-Gumi, where is he?!" Genji hissed. The man's eyes widened in horror.

"He betrayed us." Kanata gaped and his grip tightened over his bleeding limb. "I knew he was weak. One little push to show obedience and he buckled."

One _push?_ Taking Genji's life was only a _little push?!_

"You only have one more chance to tell me where he is. After that I'll drag you to your home, cut your tongue out before your daughter. Perhaps she will answer my questions in your place." Genji suggested. Kanata's eyes widened in horror. He was an elder, his daughter hadn't been threatened since Genji was in middle school. The girl was only just now a teenager. She was Kanata's only weakness. Genji was willing to exploit anything and anyone to get what he wanted. What he _deserved_. 

If this failed he was going to have to hunt down Kentaro. Shimada Kentaro was head of the drug operation, Kanata was just the leader of their street runners. Or perhaps he would hunt for Inoe Sakura, she had her spies everywhere, she would know just where anyone was from the clan. 

"We don't know!" Kanata spat. "He's missing, he ran away."

"Excuse me?" Genji lifted a brow dangerously and tipped his blade up under the elders chin.

"He took off, assassins were sent after him. They were found dead in Saitama. No one has seen him since." Kanata said. "I swear! Leave my daughter alone. Please!"

Hanzo was in the wind. He'd run away from the clan after killing Genji? Why? Wasn't the purpose of killing him, gaining control of the elders? Cementing his leadership by removing any hope of opposition? Genji had refused to assassinate any of the elders, so he had to take their place...right?

Genji froze as a stark realization seeped from his heart and into his circuits. If Hanzo had left...Genji had died for nothing. If Hanzo had given it all up, he had murdered Genji for _nothing?!_ That fool, that bastard, how dare he?! How little did Genji's supposed family think of him?! Genji had been nothing but a pawn. To be used and then discarded for someone else's gain. Disgusting.

Genji lowered his blade and Kanata slumped. Genji shifted his foot, prosthetic toes catching on the ground as he angled his sights. He dashed forward, faster than this Elder could see. Genji's blade sang out and sliced through Kanata's neck like it was butter.

Genji wiped his arm out and the blade was swung clean with two powerful arcs. He sheathed it at his back and turned to exit the meeting room. He stomed past where McCree was keeping watch from the main warehouse doorway. The garage style bay doors were lifted and Blackwatch operatives were seizing illegal goods. He knew by the time they were done they would have to burn this place to the ground to keep their influence unseen. A flurry of curses came from Reyes as he hopped down from the transport truck. 

"Pick up the pace, we've got incoming and the operation has been noticed across the damn city." Reyes called out and McCree barked out a laugh. Cold dark eyes turned to Genji and narrowed at the blood spatter decorating his augmented chest. "Done here?" 

"I am not nearly done." Genji climbed up into the transport and sat down. "My brother is in the wind." 

"There's no other Intel other than what those three had." Reyes sighed. "I hate leaving loose ends." 

Activity moved around the vehicles, they were going to beat any more of the Shimada-Gumi who would come here. Genji ground his top teeth against the faux ones in his false jaw. If he had it his way he'd leave their bodies in the street to draw out the other gang members. The Elders would want retaliation if they were trying _this_ hard to consolidate their powerbase. Hanzo had crippled them as thoroughly as he had Genji. 

McCree hopped up into the transport and Moira followed, she spared him a long glance and manuvered to the seat near the front. Reyes joined them and the vehicle sealed up around them and they were driving off to their rendezvous point. As they drove the concussive blast of explosives went off, he knew the building was on fire.

"Messy, and too fucking loud. How hard is it to keep an operatiom quiet?" Reyes hissed. 

"C'mon boss, they're Overwatch, they'll get called heroes fer all this." McCree flapped a hand dismissively even while he smiled fondly. "Drugs're gone, weapons're siezed, plenty 'a yakuza dead or arrested. Thats a mighty fine job well done iffn' ya ask me."

"No one's asking you, Ingrate." Reyes huffed but amusement was in his tone. It was always in his tone when he called McCree an Ingrate. McCree turned to grin at Genji again and in another life, he might have returned it. He might have been amused. Instead, he looked aside and closed his eyes to conserve energy until he could recharge. Rage, it seemed, wore him out faster than anything.

* * *

Intel was sparse over the next year and a half. It was two years after his 'death'. Not that he was counting the days he was just painfully aware of them. His empty they were as his vengeance went unclaimed.

Genji fit in well enough with McCree, it was hard not to let the big cowboy in. McCree was jovial, kind even, and he didn't look at Genji like he was a ticking time bomb, or pitiable. McCree had told him a few months after the attack on the Shimada-Gumi that he was plenty justified in his anger. That having damn near all of his body turned into a cyborg running off Omnic parts and systems was a huge fucking change. Genji wasn't at fault for being _'a lil grouchy'_.

Genji told McCree of the origin of his scars, showed him his face. McCree startled him by saying if he caught wind of Hanzo first, Genji might not have to worry about getting vengence after all. McCree was a treasured friend now, something Genji hadn't expected to have again. But he was happy he had him all the same. 

Genji ran missions with other Blackwatch Agents, but more often than not he was paired with McCree and Reyes. The two ranking members that had the ability and authorization to stop him when the bloodlust took him in a fight. It was like his body was still viciously angry over losing the duel. He hadn't fought his best that night, too stunned by having his brother attempt to kill him. He hadn't fought properly, and that was his downfall. So Genji trained endlessly, and when he found Hanzo he was going to best him. That was all there was to it. 

There was a mission that he was reporting for. But was surprised to see only Reyes and lower level operatives in attendance. Moira wasn't even in attendance. "Glad you got my message Agent, I have some news for you. I know you've been following the cases as they've been discovered." 

On the holo table crime scene photographs showed him the Elders who had all been found dead. Shimada Kentaro was the first to fall. He was found in a warehouse filled to the brim with new weapons to be sold through the black market. Hanajima Hinata was next, her trade lines had made her powerful. She was found slumped against her hover town car, arrow burried in her jugular. Shimada Junpei, the clans deal closer in Osaka, he was found in his abandoned limo with a bloody arrow buried deep in his chest. Fukushi Takeshi, the money launderer and casino owner in Osaka. His death was brutal, bloody and messy with police all over the scene. Hanzo had still left the elder with a neck blown open. Then there was Inoe Sakura, in her own property, damaged legs so that she couldn't a run. She had died of internal bleeding while trying to crawl across her gravel garden. 

Hanzo had been busy.

Genji would have been angry at his brother for stealing his right to kill them all, if Hanzo weren't the only target Genji wanted to see dead. There were only two left, two who would have information on Hanzo. Tsukasa Renji, and Tokomori Nagi. Reyes pulled these two elders up to highlight. Then a festival was thrown up as well. Genji narrowed his gaze. 

"Outside of these reports we haven't seen or heard of any of these Elders at all. So the asssassin taking them out is incredibly skilled, and they know more than we do." Reyes gritted his teeth. Genji hadn't let on that he knew who the assassin was. McCree suspected, and Genji was sure Reyes thought it was Hanzo as well. But not one sighting of Hanzo had cropped up either. "There's going to be an event where these last two Elders will be in attendence. If we're going to get information and turn them over it's going to be at this event." 

"A public event?" Genji tilted his head in confusion. 

"Yes, this is more of a secret stop off on the way to another mission. We've got a few days to screw around and this falls right before it. So it'll be an in and out kind of job." Reyes informed. He didn't mention that the Japanese governement wasn't happy Blackwatch had headed the mission that resulted in burned warehouses and dead yakuza. "We're preparing disguises for you and some of the scouts. We're going to move in as soon as they leave the performance." 

Genji tuned out the rest of the meeting, he was focusing instead on the sliver of hope that he could track down Hanzo soon. If these two Elders were going to be there Hanzo would come. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Genji cared little for the Elders, but for whatever reason Hanzo had targeted them..._he_ cared about them. Genji was going to capitalize on it. 

* * *

Hanamura was beautiful, and that beauty struck him as Genji walked the parade grounds. His path took him towards the outdoor pavillion stage where he was to engage the Elders. It seemed like every citizen had crawled out of the woodwork to attend a series of plays telling stories of ancient Ninja and Samurai. They were all there for the main event though, the Shimada Dragons story, and the following ones about the Shimada Clans founding. It was disgusting that they could celebrate and revere the legend that Genji had lived in horrifying detail. He was the Dragon of the North Wind, struck down by his brother. 

Genji ground his teeth under his Oni mask and continued his winding patrol. He wasn't the only "oni" in attendance, but he was certainly the only one that blended as well as he was. Most were colorful, with red or blue masks. His was white and red, he wore understated black as well, and he looked more like a cosplayer than a performer.

He couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched. The sensation filled him with familiar anger, Hanzo was here somewhere. The anticipation burned through his augmented system, he was so close, and he had the upper hand. 

The masses of civilians moved to the performance area and Genji followed them. He listened to the agents in his ear instructing him of his timeline. Genji didntt need help, he had been the lead in plenty of missions already. They had discussed it more than once this day and he'd already denied any help. Funneling these Elders into a bottleneck of Blackwatch agents would be easy enough. It was when Hanzo would make his appearance that was crucial. _That_ was Genji's goal. 

He didn't plan to watch the story told to him from the moment he was born be performed. He remembered the way he and Hanzo had cheered and during the dragon battle. They had been young boys who found amazement in dragons fighting. Now it was a different battle that burned into his mind. A battle far _too_ close to this story for comfort. Only there was to be no reconciliation. The Dragon of the North Wind was going to slay his brother in retribution. He had no forgiveness for Hanzo. 

The play wound down and shifted into the ones about the birth of the Shimada Clan. He turned on his heel and felt a heavy air settle over the crowd. Genji knew Hanzo was watching the Elders, he could sense it like a predator senses competition. Genji frowned, it wasn't time yet, but the trap was perfect. Tsukasa and Tokomori were leaning towards one another, speaking lowly, too lowly to hear over the mic system. Genji could sense the killing intent burning on what was left of his skin. Hanzo was going to strike, and if he did so before Genji could flush these Elder bastards to the authorities...he would vanish again. 

_**'I sense them.'** _Soba spoke, her tired voice sharpening with awareness. Her sharp focus extended to him and he cursed aloud. It felt like his body was burning all of a sudden. His human half is war with his cyborg parts. _'We are on fire.'_

That was certainly a way to think of it. This was the same flood of adrenaline he got when he was in a forward rush. When he was dispatching enemies to cut down any lines his team were trying to get through. Genji felt his vents open and free the steam building up in his parts. It got the attention of others around him.

Sure enough the Elders noticed him as well. "I have been spotted, I am moving in now."

"Wait, we haven't closed the perimeter yet!" Someone yelled through the intercom but Genji was already grabbing his blade and rushing through the crowd. The elders scrambled back deploying a trap of their own as guards flowed around them. Genji shifted his footing and dashed forward at their line of surprised energy shields. Genji ran up the shields and used the lip of the construct to dash after his targets.

Genji ran down the tunnel leading to the parking lot. A rush of people cut off his path and he had to adjust. He climbed up and shot himself over open air after them. But it was too late, the moment he stepped out of the inner part of the pavillion cars were tearing out of the parking lot. He sprinted for the street when he got word that Reyes and Mccree were converging on his location. Genji jumped up onto the van as it streaked past. He thumped the rooftop to let them know he was there.

"Got 'im boss." McCree reported, "Hang tight up there Genji."

"What else am I going to do?" Genji huffed and tracked the vehicles as Reyes sped them up. The cars tried to deviate to a ramp, getting onto the hyperway would make this a serious mess. Another investigation wouldn't look good on Blackwatch. The hover wells of the first vehicle exploded and it careened over the side rail and down the ramp. Seconds after that happened a red and gold blur descended on the other vehicle. Like it's counterpart it lost control in an instant and went over the edge.

They raced to the ramp and Reyes slammed on the brakes. Genji jumped down and ran for the railing. His fingers closed over his sword. This was it, the moment he'd been waiting for. Hanzo stood, it was him, his shoulder length black hair fell from a tie. His right arm was painted white and red, but roadrash and blood washed it away enough to expose a tattoo Genji knew better than his own. Hanzo's face was painted for the performance, but it was him. Hanzo turned to regard him at the railing.

Genji froze, there was no other word for it. His systems stalled, his heart raced, and Soba fell silent and cold in his mind. There was no recognition in Hanzo's dark eyes. He thought Genji was a competitor. Hanzo had no idea Genji was alive, the logical party of him screamed that _he'd_ known this the entire time. But the emotional part, the part that wasn't swamped with anger and hate told him he wanted Hanzo to recognize it was him immediately. What did he want? To kill Hanzo or to have him grovel over his crime?

Hanzo climbed the side of one of the cars and ripped the door open. An arrow nocked and ready. A moment passed, and McCree clambered up to him. Sirens walked in the distance closing in. "Look partner, we're gonna have to call it. Police are comin'."

"I cannot...he is...right there..." Genji reached for his sword and tried to call to Soba, she jerked further away from his control.

"We don't have time, I can get 'im from here." McCree pulled Peacekeeper from his holster and leveled her at Hanzo's head. Genji knew McCree would make the shot. He'd _kill_ Hanzo for him.

Hanzo jerked suddenly and his head shot up to look at the other car. Genji and Mccree both startled at the way Hanzo's whole body tensed. He looked ready to attack anything that moved. Hanzo shot his arrow into the car without hesitation and when he jumped down Genji saw his reaction. He was upset about something, weighing his options before he looked up at Genji as Reyes and Mccree both moved to grab him. A battle now would get them caught. The police were at the base of the ramp now.

Hanzo sprinted for the street instead of engaging them and Genji struggled, realized he had been struggling all along. Hanzo had been right there...his _murderer_. All Genji could think of was that his face had expressed genuine fear. Hanzo didn't get afraid. What had caused that fear? Why wasn't it _him?!_

Reyes and McCree wrestled Genji into the transport truck, McCree cursing him for not getting with the program. The vehicle sped onto the hyperway and in seconds they were vanishing from even the police's regard. They'd stopped him from pursuing Hanzo. They'd hesitated to take the shot or attack because Genji hadn't given the word.

Genji looked at his hands and trembled. _He'd_ hesitated, seeing Hanzo again had struck him more than he thought it would. His apathy had not been armor enough against his brother. He struggled and raked a hand through his hair in irritation. Why had part of him cried out for his brother to look at him and see him? Was it because he wanted to witness Hanzo's horror at seeing just what a monster he'd made Genji into? Or was it...that he wanted someone who knew him before to recognize him? To know that Genji was still alive. That he was still a man in this cyborg shell. 

* * *

The plan had been a complete failure. Tokomori was dead and Tsukasa whisked away to the hospital. Reyes had hidden their team away in a black safe house to keep the heat off them. No one had seen anything other than his attack at the pavillion. They were going to have to leave, but there was a loose end to clear up. Tsukasa Renji.

So the following night they set out. This time Mccree was going to watch for his escape Genji went in alone. He kept out of sight of hospital staff and took the stairs up to the private rooms the Shimada Clan had always used. Genji had been here when he needed to get patched up. Hanzo had been admitted when he was poisoned, their father for old war wounds that had healed without nano tech.

The private wing was empty as far as he could see. He turned his hearing up, tuning out the rasp of oxygen tanks and the electronic beeps of heart monitors. Genji focused where would Tsukasa be?

"I committed the gravest of sins because you all ordered me to. I succumbed to your whims when I should have slaughtered two of you instead. I begged him to help me do it and bring the clan to heel my own way." Hanzo's voice came through clearly and Genji froze again. His heart raced so quickly he had to release steam. 

Genji remembered that night, he'd been on his way to report to his Blackwatch contact. He'd had a party to skip to after as cover. The house was always stifling, never ceasing to be anything more than a prison. With their parents death Genji had made it clear he wasn't going to bend to the clans whims. He was done with assassin work, and that was final. He'd been harsh, rebuking Hanzo's plea for help eliminating two of the Elders. 

"He denied you." Tsukasa chuckled snidely. Genji stilled near the doorway the voices were coming from. He knelt to unlock it when he tried to open it and it wouldn't budge. "What a failure you turned out to be."

"Yes, I practically delivered myself into your hands." Hanzo sighed with a tone Genji was unfamiliar with. It burned with self hate and despondency. The door unlocked silently and Genji opened it only enough so that the voices came through clearer. Genji peered through and saw Hanzo standing next to the hospital bed where Tsukasa lay. 

Hanzo tilted his head up and Tsukasa sighed. "It's time now eh?"

"After you, there's just me." Hanzo retorted anf Genji tightened his fists, the metal started to bend with the force. 

"Show me the dragons, before I die." Tsukasa demanded and Genji seized, why did Tsukasa want to see Udon and Ramen? The elders had always toyed with Hanzo more than him. It was his brothers eagerness to please. It made him a target. The Dragons were that beacon for abuse and manipulation.

"The dragons are mine, and they will remain mine _forever_." Hanzo said solidly and Soba a snorted at that truth. Her disdain for Hanzo was peppered with pride that Hanzo was keeping her brothers safe.

Hanzo snatched the pillow from behind Tsukasa. His bare arm flashed as he forced the bed flat thanks to the emergency release. He was going to do it right now? 

"You're the worst Shimada to have ever been whelped from our clan. A waste of a bloodline. Had you not been chosen by your two dragons, you'd have been the one killed." Tsukasa spat angrily. Genji started forward as the Elders voice cut off befit he could spew more venom. He saw Hanzo settle on the bed and slam the pillow over Tsukasa's face.

Habzos eyes were what jerked Genji back. They were focused on their task, always focused, but he wasn't totally present. H-he looked like...like a victim. 

Genji had seen looks like that in the war zones they dropped in to clean up the fights and get those towns settled. People who were tortured looked like that. It was so foreign to see it on Hanzo that Genji sank to a knee to open the bag at his feet, just to avoid that expression on Hanzo's face. Inside was a folded up bow of amazing craftsmanship. It was made by Watanabe-Dono, Genji would know that craftsmanship anywhere.

He searched with the intent to find something to expose Hanzo to him. Something that made this whole thing plausible. Why did he looked like that? Why he hated Genji enough to murder him? Anything... Instead he faltered when he touched something silky soft. Genji pulled free a pair of hair sashes. The kind Hanzo used to like for when he put his hair up. They had been a gift to Hanzo from Genji. One gold and one green, the last two he'd ever given Hanzo. 

Genji stood up and backed away. He wasn't ready, not even close. He ran for the elevators and buzzed for one in a panic. He got on and when the doors closed he slumped. That's where McCree found him. The cowboy led him off to the transport without a word. They were on their aircraft heading for their actual job not long after.

Genji withdrew into himself then.

What was he doing? His vengeance was right within his grasp. Why didn't he take it? Hanzo had been unarmed, focused on eliminating Tsukasa. Why were Tsukasa's words ringing in his head? Hadn't Hanzo been the golden child, easily swayed by the power of being their Oyabun?

Genji couldn't shake it so he retreated back to his anger. It was a safe refuge. Because he was starting to think Hanzo had killed him for nothing. And that burned worse than if it had been _just_ to reign in the Elders.

"So, what happened?" Reyes asked as he settled from speaking to their pilot. He relaxed into his seat next to Genji. McCree on just other dude with his hat tipped down for a nap. "McCree said you were in the elevator when it opened up. Was it a failure?"

"It...the opportunity passed." Genji said and the lie burned hot in his chest. Soba didn't respond when he reached for her. She just ignored him instead. She hadn't been ready, _he_ hadn't been ready.

"That so," Reyes hummed thoughtfully then looked away. "After this job...Overwatch is going to start using you for some of their missions."

"Hm." Genji didn't care who used him. That's all he was now, a tool to be pointed at their enemies. He didn't mind the Overwatch team, they were friendly enough in passing. Morrison excluded, he always had this _disdain_ for Genji and Mccree. It was like their collective criminal pasts were bare before that man's sharp sight. Genji could say he'd never been judged quite as harshly by it as he was by Morrison. He knew McCree chafed under it. But Genji would do it, what else was he supposed to do? His reason for vengeance, was scarily shaken.

Genji was afraid it might have fled him entirely. And he hated that more than anything else. He was not forgiving Hanzo, he _wasn't_.


	2. Waga Tamashī Wa Kinkō O Motomeru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My soul seeks balance."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4th of July weekend to those of you in the US with me. It might be crazy right now but let's remember we're all in it together.
> 
> Thanks for stopping by to read. Everyone stay safe out there! :3

Genji did not think he would ever go back to his home. Not truly, not as angry and rage filled as he had been for so many years. Shimada Castle was as beautiful as it ever was though. Perhaps more so with how the care had been entrusted to the city. Genji spent nearly a week flitting about the town searching for Hanzo. So far his brother had not entered the city. 

But Genji knew, as the Intel provided, every year Hanzo would return. Hanzo would move about the city like a ghost, then one night in the beginning of May he would sweep into the grounds of Shimada Castle. Depending on who manned security determined the full scope of injury. Sometimes he was brutal, those guards were yakuza still tied to the extended family. Or assassins who snuck into the grounds in hopes of killing the great Shimada Hanzo. Other times guards were knocked out and left in corners or inside the various buildings on the property. 

Genji was not going to engage Hanzo here. Merely a year ago he would have killed Hanzo on the spot. Had he only been hours earlier the last time he might have. It was hard but Genji knew...as he knew that night in the hospital that he wasn't sure he could kill Hanzo. Skill notwithstanding. 

Now he was here, hoping to see just what Hanzo was making of his life. He had to know if Hanzo was the same as he'd always been. Or if the grief he'd heard that night was real. Curiosity was burning in his chest. He was just so thankful to feel anything other than disgust over his body, hate towards his brother, or anger at his teammates. The people who put him back together to use his unique abilities. So he kept his hands off the blade. Not trusting himself. Not _yet_. 

He'd been to his parents memorial. A first for Genji in years. That had been his sign that Hanzo was here, the monument was cleaned. Two cups of sake settled beneath an ornate hair pin and a pack of cigarettes. Hanzo had been there. There was only one other grave to visit and it was in the castle.

Genji walked the ramparts and rooftops of the hallways and outbuildings. He stared for a long time at the outdoor training floor where he'd been thrust from his legs and arm. Only Soba had latched onto her brothers and carried him through until they dissipated. Falling to his doom from there. 

There was a flash of movement and Genji slunk to that outdoor overlook. Silent feet taking him to the doorway that they had fought in. He peered in but didn't look at Hanzo at all. He kept his gaze firm on the tatami and dimmed his lights. He sank low and just listened. 

"I-...I still do not know how to tell you of the year I've had. I do not think it is appropriate of me to find joy or happiness in any of it. More sorrow as I healed from my grief." Hanzo sighed. "I have tried to avoid contract work. But as much as I strive to be the man you would have wanted me to be I find myself continually besieged by our world. I worry for those who have unwittingly become part my life. They are innocent of my crimes."

A silence reigned and Genji froze when he heard a wretched sob. He looked inside; eyes wide at his brother who was covering his mouth as if to stifle the sound of his emotional agony. His arms were drawn in, an image of vulnerability he'd never seen on the strongest man he'd ever known. "I-... One of those I protect named her child after me. I do not deserve such an honor. I look at him and I wish I could feel worthy of the regard. All I can see is your blood on my hands, hearing your voice in my dreams. I fear to hold him lest I taint him with my evil. There is no peace for me, I do not want it. I should have died long before now."

Genji's heart tightened and Soba cooed at him to quiet the hurt in his soul. He tipped his head back. Hanzo still thought of him, as simple as that. He worried for the people around him. He was afraid to hold a child named for him. That...that wasn't the Hanzo he knew. 

"I fought our cousin, and I thought finally I'd fallen in battle." Hanzo huffed. Genji's heart started to pound at the words being spoken. What if he's fired and Genji hasn't been there to see it. To-...? No, not to stop it! What was he thinking?! "Despite Udon and Ramen urging me to live...after I nearly succeeded twice...I wanted to live. I wanted to try and honor you without my grief in the way. So I let them pull Storm Blade from my belly and heal me. Maybe now she has been purified of the evil I used her for."

Genji watched as Hanzo pulled his katana from his back. He unsheathed the blade and settled the beautiful weapon back on the rack. Blade up, the deep chip melted into it from when they clashed with full dragon fury. 

"I wish the universe would allow me to die." Hanzo spoke again. "You deserve justice. You deserve to be at rest. Udon and Ramen refuse, they tell me there is more for me to do. The medication is all I have to keep me from trying again. I fear that the next time I try I will succeed. I don’t deserve the relief, forgive me. Your justice will have to wait until I can finally fall in battle."

Genji swallowed thickly on synthetic saliva. His brother was suicidal, thinking it would be right. Thinking Genji would want vengeance. All these years, he was living like _that_. Genji's fists tightened. Because it was true. That was how they were raised. He couldn't say his own twisted sense of honor wasn't keeping him with Overwatch. Despite his reason for being there being gone. The elders were dead. 

"I hope the afterlife is not torturous for you. I hope you are not lingering, caught between this world and peace because of me. But that is foolish, I imagine." Hanzo sighed and fell silent. Genji peered around to see his brother light incense and clasp his hands to pray. Hanzo poured sake into two cups and settled one in front of him. He rested a sharp looking falcon feather over it and bowed. 

Honoring him, as he vowed. 

Genji stood and padded away. He needed to be ready to follow Hanzo. Another hour passed before Genji saw his brother leave. He tracked at a distance, absently to avoid detection. His brother chose a small hotel for his stay. Genji saw him enter and retreated to surveil at a distance. He nearly went over more than once as his rage came and went. His heart burning with indecision. Kill him now, he wanted to die! Put them _both_ out of their misery! But that was giving Hanzo what he wanted.

What did Genji really want?

He wanted to be finished. He didn't want to keep doing this. He...didn't even want to return to Overwatch.

Genji let his fingers fall from his blade. He looked at the pearly white carapace of his body. Something the engineers had put together while he was seen with Overwatch. His upgraded systems got rid of the various tubes he no longer had to look at the fuel moving truth his blood, keeping him alive. He looked like an omnic most of the time. But this way he didn't look like the monster he did before he was upgraded. 

He'd lost more lung capacity, after the procedures. So his visor filtered the air to oxygenate the blood in his fuel. The symbiosis of the chemicals needed to be maintained. And he needed to be able to breathe. But this whole body...while fine looking of a carapace, was more protective of his remaining flesh. It just reminded him that he was too broken, too inhuman now to do the good work of Overwatch. The press picture of the others had confirmed it. The informal one they'd taken he'd been in, but the official one the world saw, he hadn’t been permitted. 

Where else was he supposed to go if he didn't return? 

His comm unit beeped and Genji growled at the interruption of his vigil. _"Agent Shimada, report."_

"My Status is uncompromised." Genji answered. He tried to parse out who was speaking to him. It wasn't Gabriel, Reyes had been getting distant ever since Genji was pulled up to Overwatch. McCree as well, but they still managed to stay close to one another. It was more than he could say for Overwatch. They tried with him, and he could see himself befriending them. His anger was in the way, he knew that. He lived for nothing but training. Unless McCree made him stop. 

_"Extraction has be moved up."_ The Overwatch agent monitoring his link mentioned. 

"Negative, I have more time." Genji turned his comm off with a thought. It was starting to feel stifling being part of this organization. Like he was a beast on a leash. Brought in to cut enemies down, put away right afterwards. It was good work, but Genji felt it was almost too close to the way the clan operated. A thought that cut deeply. Liked he'd traded one thing for another. Genji ruthlessly shoved that thought aside. It was _not_ the same. 

The night wore away into dawn. Then it passed through morning to early afternoon when Genji saw his brother again. It startled Genji from his perch and he watched. Hanzo walked from the hotel carrying a guitar case slung around his chest. A smaller bow bag hung from one shoulder. He was dressed casually. Plain cargo pants and a t shirt under a light jacket. His hair was falling around his face in ragged tendrils. Then Genji realized why. Hanzo had shorn off the top knot he'd had in the Dojo.

Dishonor. 

Genji swallowed thickly around his fake tongue. He trailed his brother to the bullet train. He rode in the car behind Hanzo's. Far enough away from the divide that he could watch unobtrusively. Hanzo unearthed a phone, and Genji could tell by his brothers system that it was a burner. The blue tape along the back was his way of distinguishing it from his others. It was so familiar Genji ached at the way his brother still managed his contacts. Some things were the same. 

Hanzo didn't express much, but Genji knew him. The faint frown on his face meant he didn't like the request he'd received. So he was parsing through potential contracts. Genji wanted to know, he wanted to understand what jobs now seemed distasteful. Hanzo said he had tried to avoid assassinations.

Genji drifted like a shadow through a connection and suddenly they were headed towards the coast. Genji frowned in confusion as they ended up in a port area. Was he going to Busan? Hanzo didn't go to the ferry. Instead he got another motel room. Genji took up a post on the opposing rooftop to watch. 

_"Agent Shimada report."_ His comm came alive and Genji fought back a growl of frustration.

"I am uncompromised." Genji answered shortly. Even the clan had given him more freedom. Overwatch's very expensive project was running solo, so now they were tagging him. Genji hated it.

_"Agent Shimada, this is Commander Morrison. How much longer are you going to be taking personal time?"_ A new voice cut through the drone of nameless agents he didn't care about.

"As long as necessary." Genji scoffed.

_"There is a mission in two days, will you be present then?"_ Morrison sounded put upon. Like Genji's downtime wasn't as concerning as it should be. He wasn't usually so demanding. _"The higher ups want another exam."_

Of course they did. They didn't trust him not to damage his own body. No doubt Dr. Ziegler’s notes weren't as private as she assured. Nothing was private in Overwatch. He almost missed Blackwatch, until he remembered Moira would have been his assigned medic. Her manic desire to take him apart warred with Dr. Ziegler’s quiet horror of how he was still working. Despite it being her work that was keeping him alive. 

"I will return before your deadline." Genji bit out and hung up.

Night fell quickly and Hanzo left the hotel room in clothing darker and more form fitting. He drifted along the streets until he entered a bar. Genji frowned in confusion. He was taking a night out? A few hours passed as Genji watched from an alleyway. His confusion burned, going out want something Hanzo did. Not since he was in his younger twenties. 

Hanzo stumbled out of the bars side door. Genji frowned at the large man who exited with him. Tall, body builder, judging by his shoulders. But one arm was cybernetic. Then suddenly they were kissing and Genji looked away. Ugh. That was something he never needed to see his brother doing.

Considering they didn't leave the alleyway for a good thirty minutes Genji could only assume what had happened. He'd engaged in his own alleyway trysts in his time. Revulsion that was so reminiscent of his teenage disgust surfaced. Catching Hanzo with Taro. Catching Hanzo with other assassins both connected and not connected to the clan. There were some things brothers just didn't need to acknowledge happening.

Hanzo left the alleyway alone, drinking deep of something in a canteen. Then he was walking drunkenly back to his motel. To anyone else he looked normal, no one would be able to tell he'd had too much to drink. But Genji could see the less careful way he sauntered. Then he was back in his motel and Genji was once more just biding his time.

He could have taken him. He could have dropped in while Hanzo was with that man. A person in the middle of a sexual encounter was an easy target. Someone drunk and unaware was just as easy. Genji had killed people as part of the clan like that. He was no stranger to it. But he'd allowed himself to slip back into the mindset of a brother rather than the murdered victim he was.

Vengeance. That was what he came for. So why was he stalking and observing Hanzo instead?

Another night wore away and Genji decided to rest himself. Just a few hours. He woke before dawn, and just in time too. Because there Hanzo was, leaving the motel. Just as packed as the day prior. Genji tailed him distantly and finally they were on the ferry. Genji made himself scarce, too afraid of being caught before he was ready.

Oddly, they stopped at Tsushima Island. This time Genji had to offer his Overwatch credentials to be waved past the military guards. What was happening here? Genji turned on his comm at the same time he engaged the sound proofing on his visor.

_"Genji?"_ Lena answered. Why was she on comms? It didn't matter. 

"I need to know if anything is happening on Tsushima Island." Genji spoke curtly.

_"Tsushima?"_ She popped her lips and fell quiet. _"Looks like the special reserve was reactivated luv. The -... Samurai Soldier Program. They're using Tsushima as a training base."_

"The Samurai?" Genji felt his eyes widen in surprise. Everyone knew about the Samurai Soldiers. They had been the non-enhanced equivalent of Super Soldiers. They had been on the front lines of the Crisis, fighting Omnics and protecting the line of the Exclusion Zone. Genji's also knew his father had gone to help them. He'd been young at the time; his father had gone to the battlefield and helped the Samurai break free of a surrounded stretch of Hokkaido. He'd defied the clan then, and no one had argued when he returned home triumphant with more government contracts than the clan had before.

Why was _Hanzo_ here?

_"That's right luv, I guess they're making some real progress in recruitment. Probably a good thing too. The sea between them and Korea has an active Omnium still. Korea refuses Overwatch assistance."_ She sounded sad at that. Considering Kings Row one would think militaries would bring in Overwatch sooner. But the opposite was true these days. Especially with the Petras Act being voted upon. 

"Thank you." Genji hung up. He trailed a community that was largely diverse between human and Omnic. He blended well enough. Hanzo walked the little port town before he saw Hanzo entering a convenience store. Genji didn't enter, too risky.

Hanzo exited moments later looking harried with two girls latched to his arms. One with purple hair, the other blue. A young man with red hair bounced out after them carrying Hanzo's luggage. Strange, Hanzo would never give up his weapon. A man stepped into the street and Genji felt his eyes widen. The man wore a long red haori stylized with birds. Under it he wore a light armored body suit. At his waist was a katana that looked similar to Genji's tech-based katana.

That was a _Samurai! _

Genji's inner child screamed in fan boyish glee. The man was grizzled looking, a smattering of facial hair, hair tied up in a messy top knot. He even chewed on a toothpick. He looked like he stepped right out of a movie! They steered Hanzo towards the store’s parking lot. Then they pushed him inside. Genji pinged the vehicle and watched it leave.

After a cool half hour he decided to follow on foot. It didn't take as long as he thought, he ran just inside the tree line following the road out of town and into a very overgrown reserve park. His tracker fed him a HUD inside the visor, and he traveled much more stealthily than he had been as he approached the place his brother had ended up.

Surprisingly, it was a stretch of land surrounded by trees. Four traditional style houses surrounded the gravel drive. The car was parked hovering off to the side. Hanzo suddenly exited one and he looked so much like himself but not at the same time.

He wore a deep blue kyudo-gi and Hakama set. His legs were armored and a traditional quiver sat on his back. The ornate Bow made by their master was in his hands. Genji wondered why he didn't hold a blade anymore. He also wondered if Hanzo got the same tremors Genji did. When the memory of that night was too great to ignore.

Hanzo inclined his head to the gathering of young adults who had mobbed him before. They pulled out of his house without the Samurai. He tried not to be disappointed. Then Hanzo took off at an easy lope. Genji followed carefully. Watching as his brother ran an intricate path through the spring forest. Genji trailed the same path, finding targets carved or painted in the most difficult of places. Between branches, angled between numerous trees that would require the precision of a sniper to hit. 

That seemed to be what Hanzo was now. And he was terribly good at it. He'd always been good at archery, as adept as he was at swordplay. His aries were true. Genji didn't want to be impressed but he was. Hanzo was always the coolest fighter as they grew up. Genji was unsettled, he'd thought that version of himself dead. He'd thought he'd killed the part of him that looked up to his brother.

Hanzo ended his course out on a flat cliffside. He settled onto the grassy knoll and leaned back on his hands. Hanzo looked upset from this angle. He tipped his head back and the sunlight caught on a tear falling from his eyes. Genji's systems flooded with his biological reaction to it. His heart raced with surprise, his mind buzzing with the agony of seeing the pain he'd heard in his brother's voice.

Genji reached up to his blade. He could do it now. There was no one here. He could kill Hanzo and relieve them both. Where Hanamura was too close to the same feel of their duel. Here was secluded. Here could leave them both _clean_. Genji nearly took a step when a sharp edge of a blade tapped at the base of his artificial exoskeleton. He could feel it, pressing to a weak spot that would stop his prosthetics from working. Immobilizing the speed he had come to rely on.

"Hands away from the weapons, Omnic." A rough male voice spoke viciously. Genji contemplated his options. He could take the attacker; he was certain of it. "Don't think you're fast enough to take me. I’ve slaughtered thousands of you in my day. I'm ready to do it again, starting with you."

"I am only here for Shimada." Genji supplied. Maybe he could convince this person to let him kill the murderer resting in the grass. Relief was only a few dozen feet away. 

"Yeah see, that's not gonna fly." The voice growled. "Back away now. No sense in dragging him into this."

Genji looked ahead to where Hanzo had curled up over his knees. Heaving of shoulders told him his brother was crying. His rage at the audacity, at war with the mirrored ache in his chest. Genji could end it now, he could summon Soba to attack this man and blitz for his brother. So fast he wouldn't even know what happened. Beheaded in an instant. 

But he wouldn't know why.

Genji released the blade, held his hand up. This felt the same as the night in the hospital. Staring at his broken brother fighting to see the murderer who slew him. Trying desperately to see murderous rage in Hanzo's eyes. But that night it hadn’t been murder and intent in his gaze. What was it Genji had seen? Why did it haunt him even now? Why did it continue to douse his rage?

"Who are you?" Genji asked.

"Don't see how that's any business of yours." The blade adjusted and pulled away before the red clad Samurai from earlier stepped between Genji and his brother. "I think you'd be better off leaving now. This is neutral territory. Your yakuza master has bitten off more than he can chew."

"I-...perhaps. I was not aware he had gotten the protection of the Samurai." Genji didn't know where to go from here.

"It's the other way around. But we ain't much if we can't protect the people who sacrifice for us." The Samurai glared. "I called for my squad, you got all of ten minutes to get lost. I find you back here again, we won't be merciful."

Genji debated on challenging the Samurai. He knew he was better with a blade. "Don't you know what he's done?"

"Don't matter to me. I killed Omnics on orders. Whether it was right or wrong ain't up to me. Whatever his past is, it's not your business's now is it?" The Samurai scoffed. "I won't let you give him a reason to lay his head down for execution. We've worked too hard to get him out of that shit. I won't let some Omnic assassin drag him back into it all either. So get lost before I get my blade dirty."

Genji was taken aback. The Samurai cared about Hanzo. Enough to keep him safe from yakuza assassins. This didn't feel like the first time this Samurai had shadowed and protected Hanzo. Despite knowing what he did, they decided to protect him anyways. That feeling was back, demanding he walk away. 

"Alright. I'm compromised anyways." Genji backed up and the Samurai kept his blade out and at the ready while he watched Genji retreat into the woods. Once they couldn't see one another Genji activated his comm. "Agent Shimada requesting extraction."

_"Request granted, activating your tracker now."_ The base AI answered. _"What is your status?"_

"Compromised."

* * *

Genji frowned at the activity going around the hangar of the Swiss HQ. Why was everyone acting like they were about to go to battle? Genji ignored the agents coming towards him and made for the barracks. McCree would either be here, or he would be reached at the Blackwatch Watchpoint.

He found McCree in his room as he was packing his duffle. "McCree, are you leaving on a mission?"

"Ah...welcome back Genji." McCree looked at him in surprise. That was when Genji realized he wasn't wearing his Blackwatch uniform. No, just a flannel shirt and jeans. Peacekeeper tucked at his hip. His hat laid next to the bag and his casual serape underneath it. "And... no."

"Are you returning to the New Mesa Watchpoint?" Genji asked and McCree moved over to shut the door after looking around suspiciously.

"Athena, activate black out." McCree spoke low and looked around at the speakers that would let the AI reach them.

"Of course Agent McCree." Athena answered overhead.

"Ana was killed in her mission two days ago. She got into a sniper duel with Widowmaker." McCree’s grave face pinched with anger. The same look he'd had ever since Rialto returned just after. That skeptical gleam he had whenever he spoke to Reyes now. It had been a bad call on that job. They might not have made it out with Antonio, but it still was against orders. But if Widowmaker had resurfaced Talon must have reclaimed Amelie. Another black mark of Overwatch. Especially after her kidnapping and Gerard's death once she was returned. "The mission info got leaked. How else would Talon have been there? Everyone is gettin' pulled for interview."

"That explains the way Commander Morrison sounded on the comms." Genji sighed. "What is the plan?"

"There ain't no plan partner. It's goin' to shit here." McCree bit out. "We're goddamn attack dogs pointed at another problem other countries should honestly be solvin' themselves. Then they claim foul when we do it our way."

"McCree." Genji started.

"I feel like I traded one gang for another Genji. I'm just another goon shootin' first and questionin' later. That...I was supposed to leave all that shit behind." McCree sighed. "I'm out, I won't be Blackwatch's attack dog anymore. There's...there's some shady shit goin' on here Gen. I can feel it."

Genji stared at his best friend. In the wake of Ana Amari's death McCree was spooked. "You're leaving."

"I-...yeah." McCree went back to his duffle. He zipped it and put his serape and hat on before he shouldered it. "You know my other comm link. I'm goin' dark the second I'm off the Watchpoint."

"You can't be serious." Genji stepped into McCree’s path.

"Oh I'm damn serious Genji. It ain't right no more. This place...it's comin' apart at the seams and no one is listenin'. All hopped up on Overwatch's old glory. Meanwhile we done pissed off every government there is. They don't want us." McCree sighed then reached out and touched Genji's flesh shoulder. The one that was armored to hide his human traits. To protect Soba. "Our own, our best are dyin' around us. Ana suspected something was goin' on, somethin' wasn't right. No one listened to her either. Now she's dead."

"You think the agents dying know something." Genji angled his head.

"I can't prove it Genji. But I know we're compromised. I don't know if it's Talon, or someone else with connections to them. I'm leavin' before I die with those agents no one wants to talk about." McCree said and bit his lip. "I suggest you leave to. You could come with me partner."

Genji froze, gaping at his friend from behind his visitor. Leave? And go where?! To his brother who Genji couldn't decide to get revenge on or not. Genji shook his head. He could no more keep McCree here than he could have stayed with his family. If McCree felt that they were in danger, then getting out might be the best option. But Overwatch wouldn't let him go without a fight. Not with how much money was put into his body.

"If you need me partner, you call." McCree nodded and stepped around him and opened the door. In seconds he was gone. Genji didn't follow, he wouldn't give his friends escape away. Instead he trembled with the realization that in McCree’s eyes was the same thing he'd seen in Hanzo's the night of their duel. Terror, and resignation. The look of a man who had given up the fight.


End file.
